Software application programs have long been used to perform tasks for computer users. For example, one type of software application program such as Microsoft Windows Explorer™ supports navigation amongst a file system. In general, a file system is a program used by an operating system to organize and keep track of files. A hierarchical file system is one that uses directories to organize files into a tree structure. One purpose of the navigation software is to enable a viewer to identify and open files of interest in the hierarchical file system.
To manage a file system, a viewer can launch Microsoft Windows Explorer™ on a respective computer system to view directories of locally stored information. While in a directory, the viewer can choose a given folder for viewing. In response to choosing the given folder, the navigation software typically presents one or more files in the given folder that can be selected and opened by the viewer. The files can be stored according to different formats depending on a respective native application used to generate the file.
Microsoft Windows Explorer™ displays an icon of a particular type to represent the files in a folder. Based on the type of icon, a user can identify the native application used to generate the file. For example, the navigation software can display a WORD™ icon (e.g., a large letter “W”) to indicate files encoded according to a WORD™ format. The navigation software displays a corresponding unique flowchart icon to identify files encoded according to a MICROGRAFX™ format, and so on.